The Press., 1887-01-20
Issued Every Thursday Evening.
EoCHL ToPICs-PENN'D AND sCIssORED.
AN ExPERIENoE GIVEN IN WARNING.


 AN EXPERIENCE GIVEN IN WARNING.
 A citizen of this county, moved thereto
 by the "reminiscences published in this pa.
 per of Wilmington born man who is now
 in California, furnishes to The Press some
 notes from his experiences in contrast
 with the object of impressing upon young
 men the lesson, "let well enough alone. ,
 Our correspondent, who has now passed
 middle life, and has very little now to
 show for life of toil, tells of several pe-
 riods in his life when had he been content
 ed with his lot he might have slowly but
 surely acquired @ reasonable competency
 for later life. Many will recognize the
 writer by incidents made use of from
 notes furnished by him:
 Noting at the beginning that his name
 IS among the list of school notes published
 by our California correspondent, the writer,
 whom we will call S., says that while the
 Californian spent 40 years of his life in
 Monson, acquiring there a comfortable competence before going to the golden state, he, s., has led rowing life with
 less satisfactory results. Going back to a period of 40 years, he was then in the e1n- ploy of Elijah Fairman at Hydeville, where he remained five years, marrying a Massachusetts girl in the meantime. He left job at $1.25 per day, (good wages them, though he might have kept it for an indefinite time. The next two years war spent in working farm on shares at Groton, Conn.,, where $500 was cleared in in that time. S's. removal from here was in consequence of the farm having been sold. He remained at Groton over three years, then went to Rochester, N. r., and took farm on halves belonging to the same man who had owned the Groton farm. He rejoiced at the pros pect of farming away from the rocks of Connecticut, but found the numerous small stones of his new farm scarcely an improvement, and soon grew homesick and removed to New Jersey, to manage a farm on salary. Two years of this was succeeded by desire for a city life, tho $500 had been saved from the earnings of that period. His employer gave him choice to remain or go to the city, where his son kept a fruit store, advising the former course. The advice was not taken, and the city job did not satisfy, nor was m off, fer from the same party, who was presi. dent of an ice company, to take charge of a gang of men at $500 per year considered acceptable. The next remove was to Groton again. This was in 1858. Again MT. Leonard. the ice man, wrote, offering the same position as before, at $900 for first year, and $1 ,000 for next year. s. now had @ farm on his hands, and could not, but the next spring found means to accept Of an offer to return to the New ter sey farm.
 The war had now broken out, and infia- tion was rampant. s. notes paying 75 cents per yard for cotton cloth and S4 for meal, but also sold COWS for $100 each, and timber from $45 to $60 per m. feet. At the end of six years the farm was sold. Meanwhile s. had been furnishing the Northern N. J. railroad with car timber for six years, and had kept the contract, making good profits, but the railroad was sold to the Erie in the midst of this, and as that company would pay only what lum- Der cost at it's western terminus there was B considerable loss upon large amount of lumber then on hand. This loss was no fault of the selling company, as there had been an understanding that such sale would end the contract.
 The next venture was in keeping 25 men boarders. This brought in receipts of $500 per month, but left small margin for prof. 1t. The next move was back to Connecti- cut.
 To sum up, s. has occupied eight leased farms in Connecticut, two in Massachusetts,. two in New York, and two in New Jersey, has owned four farms in Connecticut, three wood lots in Massachusetts, some building ots in partnership with party in Ware, | Mass, wood lots in New York and in New Jersey, but does not now own one foot of and. He has moved 30 times, and in | closing gives the advice to young men mentioned at the beginning, s'Let we'll enough alone. -.
 He tells these incidents:
 At one time, after filling timber order | ,or the Knickerbocker Ice Go. in New York, | he went to the city to draw his pay. The | Do. gave him 8 check for $500 on the Peo- oles' Bank, when the teller gave all small l pills, and in answer to request to some pig ones, said that s. would have to take ,uch as he had. "Of course," said S.. | there was no more to- say. My pocket book held $500. While I was wondering where to put the rest the teller stepped | lown and said he would fix 1t for me. He | ;ook piece of coarse brown paper and jed it up nice, saying that those who saw ne would think that had yard of calico | lone up. I was in the city through the lay, and carried the $500 in my hand, but do not know what people thought, for 10 one asked me what had" !"
 One very cold day when I was in the ,it.' heard an old gentleman telling the president of the railroad that he had once seen the river frozen across from New York to Jersey City, and that a Yankee ouilt shanty, put it on the ice, and call | ed it the halfway house, sold candies and | ,igars, and that many walked across for he name of 1t. The old gent said that ,rowd gathered around the shanty, when he ice broke, and one man fell in. Upon | his one of the crowd, wag, went and old the Yankee that if he had anything D his cellar he had better lock the door, or he had seen one man breaking in. "
 Rockville Journal The 24th day of January will be the twentieth anniversary # the pastorship of Rev. J. J. Furlong, 'ver St. Bernard's church and parish. |